CPI-M urges NDA government to commute Yakub Memon’s death sentence

New Delhi: The CPI-M on Wednesday urged the government to commute the death sentence of Mumbai blasts accused Yakub Menon, saying he had chosen to surrender and cooperate with Indian authorities.

While describing the 1993 blasts as “a heinous terrorist attack” that killed 257 innocents, the CPI-M said that Memon’s death sentence would not serve the interests of justice.

“Yakub Memon was part of the conspiracy. But unlike the main actors, he chose to surrender before the Indian authorities and stand trial,” the Communist Party of India-Marxist said in a statement.

“He also brought his family back to India to stand trial.

“He has provided information to the authorities about the involvement of Pakistani personnel in the attack and the shelter given to the terrorists and is therefore also the only witness available to the government.

“Yet, he was singled out for the death sentence while the main perpetrators are at large,” the statement said.

It said it would serve the ends of justice if Yakub Memon’s death penalty was commuted to life sentence.

“Even those convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case with the death sentence have had their sentences commuted to life.

“The CPI-M has been in principle advocating the abolition of the death penalty. Hence Yakub Memon’s mercy petition, which has been filed, should be accepted,” it said.

The CPI-M said it was imperative that the criminals responsible for the deadly Mumbai attack should be brought to book and punished.

“There is ample evidence that the main culprits have escaped the law with the help of agencies across the border. Every effort has to be made from all forums available to bring them back to India to stand trial and consequent punishment under law.” (IANS)

The recent clash of BJP and Congress have re-balanced the political scenario of India. Wikimedia Commons

NEW DELHI: Indian being a political democratic country, houses a lot of political parties. Since independence, many new parties have emerged to take up the fight for various sections of the society. One of the examples of such a party is AAP (Aam Admi Party). AAP came up with strong political ethics to root out issues faced by a commons man but now the very existence of this party is in question due to poor performance and incompetence of some of its top leaders. But the most prominent of all of the political parties in India are BJP (Bharatiya Janta Party) and the Indian National Congress.

BJP encouraged the construction of the temple of God Rama at the site of the Babri Masjid. Wikimedia Commons

In 1980, BJP surfaced from a former party known as Bharatiya Jana Sangh which was founded by Syama Prasad Mookerjee. BJP’s agenda during the 1980s focused on the ‘Ram Janambhoomi movement’. The party encouraged the construction of the temple of God Rama at the site of the Babri Masjid. This issue gave the Hindu colour denomination to BJP and in 1996; it emerged as the largest party in the parliament. After being kept away from the power for long, Narendra Modi led the BJP to unprecedented heights in the last elections and the competition was put up by him was unmatchable.

On the other hand, Congress is a more matured political party of India. It got established in the year 1885. After the independence, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru became the leader of free India. Nehru was the front face of the political governance in India but after his assassination, his daughter Indira Gandhi took the charge and became the prime minister in 1966. Unfortunately, Indira Gandhi also got assassinated and her son, Rajiv Gandhi took up the reigns of the party. In the sequence of assassination, Rajiv Gandhi was the next target. Sonia Gandhi came to power in 1998 and she led the party from the front in 2004 elections. This resulted in the political rule of Congress under Manmohan Singh.

After the independence, Congress head Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru became the leader of free India. Wikimedia Commons

The recent Assembly election of Gujarat was a real eye-opener for many, as the people’s right to vote was seen quite considerably y exercised. The Congress resistance in the very own fortress of Narendra Modi was a heavy blow to the Modi wave that swept the country. Although, BJP had the last laugh in the election results but the close fight Syama Prasad Mookerjee from the Congress side was appreciable. The new trend seems to be rebalancing the political scenario in India. The tussle between the BJP and Congress will definitely go down in the history of Indian politics.

Nowadays, Twitter is another playground for political parties. The rule of social media platforms has pushed Indian leaders to communicate in the same manner. It’s vividly seen that people take up to twitter to express their views and differences. Rahul Gandhi vetted his displeasure over the performance of BJP in the latest series of attacks by Rahul against Prime Minister Modi.

Last month only, Rahul Gandhi was crowned as the party head. Therefore, the state polls of 2018 will be an acid test for Rahul to prove his mettle as a leader. It will be interesting to see the new strategies that will be deployed by Congress to take an edge over their arch rivals, BJP.